Rye's 125L Tank

[SuperColey1]

*cough* pressurised *cough*

Lol.

Fluval Spraybars at P@H. There's a thinner one for internals and a thicker one for externals. They have really strong suckers and clips included

AC

 

[ian]

and also Rye, throw that test kit in the bin, never to be used again!

Nirtate of that level is fine, and don't trust the test kit anyways.

 

[Ryefish]

the test kit is whats left over from when i was cycling the tank. its only got about two or three more tests worth in it. I only use it for the PH tests every now and again.

I got the Co2 working again.. just lol. I can't afford to go pressurised and my mother would FREAK if i even mentioned it. I drove for miles to the Maidenhead near me, and they only had fluval spray bars. I asked the guy if it would fit on my Eheim pipe fitting things and he said no.. so i left empty handed (almost bought a Betta.. he was stunning!!!)

I am officially not buying anything for my tank until January atleast, i don't even think i can afford the spray bar now another of my rats is sick and may need to be spayed which is going to cost a fortune

 

[Carlovel1]

Even with the slight algae, the tank is great

 

[SuperColey1]

Even with the slight algae, the tank is great

Whats the filter attachment you are using it for? 16/22 hose? 12/16?

The Fluval externals will fit any 12/16 pipe. You just have to link it to the pipe with a small piece of hose.

Pity, a couple of months ago I sold a brand new Eheim spraybar for a fiver on ebay. lol

AC

 

[Ryefish]

i believe the pipe is a 16mm.. i have no idea haha. ive just bagged myself a work placement at a rather decent LFS so i should be able to find one eventually picked up two cherry barbs and a pipe cleaner today

 

[Dan-CR4]

Hi Rye

dont know if u remember me but we were both cycling our tanks at around the same time (along with pdsimon, i think) earlier this year, I see you now have a bigger tank and it looks great. I had a big problem with BBA (algae), the plants and bogwood got covered in it, but I did not have much money for co2 so I have since took out my bogwood and binned the plants. I still have some algae left on my back wall but im getting rid of it slowly.

Since I was last on here back in May a few of my fish died, I lost 4 Mollies but the other 4 of my mollies are doing fine, also my 3 keyholes cichlids and 4 bolivian rams are really doing well and I have not lost any fish in 3 months.

im glad to see your new tank is coming on really well. will keep an eye on this thread as its giving me hope of trying plants again but I want to make sure I got co2 ready first.

keep up the great work

Danny

 

[Ryefish]

Hi Dan, long time no see I have lost a few fish over the last few months, but i have also gained some new tank inhabitants aswell so it all balances itself out. You should really give plants a whirl, once you get it all going its not that difficult


On a tank update:
im having a heck of a hard time to get the HC Cuba to do anything. Loads of leaves fell off and there is like two tiny bits of plant sticking out of the sand. I don't know if it will grow back or not. I was contemplating buying some more but im going to leave it for a while

Ill show pics later

 

[Ryefish]

Haven't updated with pictures for a while. I have been a bit disheartened about my 'pets' (the tank comes into this category) lately after losing one of my rats and havent really found the time for any of them lately.

The HC Cuba died off instantly which is rather annoying. I haven't been able to find any more in the shops either, so im thinking of looking for a different carpeting plant.

The stem plants in my tank are driving me crazy. What i believe to be a Hygrophila Difformis was growing too fast. I chopped it into three, gave two plants away and was still overrun. It was growing out of my tank and touching the top of the hood. I have taken the last lot out and im going to put it in the goldfish tanks at college. I think it should grow quick enough to survive any destruction lol.

The pinky coloured stem plant i had just to the left of the vallis was also growing too long, dropping its leaves at the bottom half of the stem and uprooting all the time. Ive tried to replant it but im getting rather annoyed with it. Ive chopped it in half and planted stems which have taken off but they all do the same.

The hydrocotyle is also growing like a weed, but i dont mind lol

full tank shots:

I am after some advise.
I obviously want a carpetting plant eventually because they seem to finish off a tank, but id rather not have slate or wood sitting around with Riccia on it so ill probably try the HC Cuba again.
I feel like i need more plants. I feel i have a lot of a little - if that makes sense. Id also like more colour, size and texture variations in there.

So far in there there are:
4/5 really large amazon swords
1 large free-standing piece of java fern and a few small pieces added to bogwood
1 tiny piece of anubias nana attached to bogwood
two pieces of Cryp. Wendtii Tropica that doesn't look overly nice lol
Java moss and what was supposed to be Flame Moss but looks like weeping moss -.- stupid ebay
a few massive pieces of Vallis
a few pieces of Hydrocotyle dotted around

 

[Dan-CR4]

Your tanks really looking nice, well done you I have just gone back to sand and plants as I was getting jealous of all these nice looking tanks. I have also ordered new lights for my tank and they are stuck somewhere in Kent in the parcel system.

Well If mine can look nearly as noce as yours I will be happy.

Dan

 

[Ryefish]

I moved some things around today but have no pictures of it. The tank is on lock down because of a bacterial infection and its full of blue medicine

Ive lost my two adult apple snails, a cory cat, my betta's eyes have turned white, my cherry barbs have red patches and an albino cory keeps getting this wierd lump on its fin. not my luck at all lately.

I bought a really nice Echinodorus palaefolius the other day to make me feel better

Pretty much all my stem plants have died off apart from two pieces, so ive planted them where they can have more light and hoping they will pick up again.

ETA: i should also add that im probably going to get a crazy algae outburst because ive had to dismantle my rubbish diy Co2 set up. When i can get another diffuser (ive had to use the filter i use atm on my biorb) im going to have another crack at it

On another note... i have pulled about 40 shrimp and all my baby apple snails out of this tank and put them in my biorb. i couldn't risk losing them after losing my only two breeding adults
now though i have really bad itchy fingers to plant my biorb again and now i have increased knowledge on the subject, my imagination is already reeling with ideas and ive already made a list of plants i want to buy in three weeks on pay day (for the biorb and this tank) so there may be another journal making an appearance soon


ahh.. my mother is going to freak out.

I will also be working two days at the LFS soon and you do not understand how difficult it is not to take loads of fish and plants home everyday

 

[Biulu]

Your growth is great, but I see what you mean...

I would take the amazons on the left out and put your vallis in the left back corner. Your new amazon could go in the back somewhere at 1/3. If your stemplants are doing well, as they did before as you said, try A. reineckii. It will give you a nice touch of red for the background.

As a carpeting plant why not try lilaeopsis or E. tenellus?

 

[Ryefish]

I bought a ludwigia, a spikey looking microsorum and some random tiny spikey plant on monday.
My tank is plagued though so no pictures. Ive lost a cherry barb and my corys are really sick.
The long vallis leaves are turning brown and dying which is annoying, but are making a lot of daughter plants. I moved out a sword and have temp dumped it in my shrimp tank in my bedroom. pay day soon and i might be able to get this back on track before i tear the whole thing down and give up

 

[lljdma06]

Don't give up. How are you doing your dosing for the disease?

 

[Ryefish]

The corys are in a seperate tank with anti-fungus medication. I have three tanks running at the mo which im finding a complete nightmare considering i only have two heaters. The coryss are sat on a heat mat that is difficult to regulate the temp.

I upgraded my main tank lights from the 18w daylight bulbs that came with it to 18w T8s with a lovely pink glow that makes the red fins on my fish luminate. Everything looks so much better just with a different coloured light. Ive spent two days trying to rig my co2 up to my new powerhead but its really powerful and backs water in to the bottles. I wish i could afford to go FE but i cant. im still working on the diy though. The mini filter i usually use as a diffuser is in the cory tank.

Im hopefully picking up some new anubias tomorrow and ordering some plants, substrate and lighting for the biorb if i can withdraw any cash. Losing your bank card a week before christmas and two weeks before loan payday is another nightmare lol.

Im arranging picking up two pieces of bogwood from a forum member. I have ideas, but still trying to fix this co2 to try and give my new plants a boost. I dont want these stems to die. Ill take photos and update when i get this wood and get it in

ETA: my laptop chargers broke too, so i can only upload pictures at my boyfriends house lol